I’ve been downsizing over the last 4 years, including 3 separate moves, as my two children leave Colorado for university/life in New Zealand. The decision to downsize has been multifaceted for me - a small part financial as a solo parent, a larger part to reduce my footprint in the earth and an even larger part as a design/home organization challenge. This last move to a one-bed apartment has forced me to face the neglected cluttered spaces. One space that finally got addressed were the shelves containing (fantasy self) art supplies. I had to have the hard conversation with myself about whether I’m really going to invest the time in learning how to paint with acrylics. In a moment of clarity, I quickly texted an art teacher friend and offered her my supplies - before I could change my mind! I was the committed to going through with that decluttering.
But now, having settled into the smaller apartment, I’m finding I still have too much storage space available in high kitchen cabinets so I’ve allowed myself to neglect some other areas. I got away with not decluttering the paint and furniture refinishing supplies - and when and how will I ever refinish furniture pieces in my one-bedroom with no garage space, you ask? Yes, that’s exactly my point. Those things need to go. As do the nicer car floor mats and extra car supplies from when my teen daughter totaled not one, but three cars. We kept them for future cars or to sell. But now they’re in an upper cabinet of mine 🙄. Why? Because I hate throwing things away and I haven’t bothered to find them a new home.
While everything in my home has a home now, sometimes we have extra storage that allows to keep stuff we really don’t need. So perhaps, I should stop spending so much time reading Substack posts (not yours, of course! I’ll always read those) and get started in those last few decluttering projects!
We don’t have a basement in our current house and I secretly LOVE it! No hidden place for stuff to collect. Having to store our lesser used things in the garage definitely helps us keep it to a minimum. Nice job on the clean out!
The upper level of my two-story garage has evolved from a party/movie watching room into a craft/sewing studio space. I think if it were a more welcoming and organized space, I would actually use the supplies there. That could be aspirational thinking however.
The other is a 5x10 storage room on the lower level of the garage, filled with my late mother-in-law's crystal, silver, and knick-knacks that my husband couldn't dispense with, due to his illness, prior to his death. No one wants vintage crystal stemware in rural Appalachia. This room is my top priority.
This is fantastic! We have a rental and while we dont have a basement, we have a storage unit on site- so the same concept. Our home has been decluttered and downsized dramatically. Last summer we did the same for our storage unit. We dont normally go in there, however now when we do, we know where everything is and there is additional space if it is needed.
Love this (especially the messy before pic! And the reality that this space doesn’t need to be styled, just functional). Would love more detail on the mementos storing process (maybe for another email?!). I know you’ve talked about this in various places but would love more details and pics. Are the mementos from your dad organized or just in one big bin? And for the girls project or schoolwork, is there a place you store inside for when things first come home and then eventually transfer to the basement??? And is it also all in just one big bin or organized within? Organized by year or all mixed together? (Clearly this is an area I find very challenging!) Thank you! Love all your work so much.
That is a lot of questtions!!! All excellent questions and I would love to know the answers as well. I need to sort out all of my daughters "art" from school.
I have a closet where I store art supplies that desperately needs my attention. It’s relatively organized, items are labeled, but its just too much stuff. Ugh! I just can’t seem to deal with it. I think I need to take your approach of dragging everything out, editing and keeping only what I truly think I’m going to use going forward. The rest I need to donate.
Nice job on the basement clean out. I have two closets that I wish to re-invest in and to rid of the crates and to have one of those modular drawers for the closet instead and to tweak what's in the crates into the drawers. I have one picked out from Bed Bath and Beyond, all I need is the money when there's extra funds.
Right now, it is our new vehicle that is causing a carbon imprint in our lives, needing repairs.
I can visualize the work in the closets as I have been tweaking it yearly now since we've moved here and perhaps when I get it down to size/functioning, we'll have to move or such, being that we're renters and not home owners.
Thank you Shira, this get's me to think about our space!
Thanks for your vulnerability in sharing this space of your home! For my family, our toughest area to organize is the carport. We don’t have a garage, so this is where all the outdoor and extra large items are stored. It definitely needs an edit, and I hope we can get to it this summer. (It will definitely be a multi-hour process.)
I need to tackle my guest bedroom and my laundry/ storage room. We have guests coming in May, July and August and I have been putting it off, but now I have to get it done.
Thanks for sharing! This reminds me of the episode of 'Friends' and Monica's secret messy closet.
For me, this is our backyard shed. It's collected so many holiday decorations, random tools, gardening supplies, paint supplies. But we just avoid it bc it's a shed. I know we have a ton of duplicates and items that need to go, but this space has felt weirdly intimidating for me. Also... there are bugs. Thanks for the motivation to tackle it!
I’ve been downsizing over the last 4 years, including 3 separate moves, as my two children leave Colorado for university/life in New Zealand. The decision to downsize has been multifaceted for me - a small part financial as a solo parent, a larger part to reduce my footprint in the earth and an even larger part as a design/home organization challenge. This last move to a one-bed apartment has forced me to face the neglected cluttered spaces. One space that finally got addressed were the shelves containing (fantasy self) art supplies. I had to have the hard conversation with myself about whether I’m really going to invest the time in learning how to paint with acrylics. In a moment of clarity, I quickly texted an art teacher friend and offered her my supplies - before I could change my mind! I was the committed to going through with that decluttering.
But now, having settled into the smaller apartment, I’m finding I still have too much storage space available in high kitchen cabinets so I’ve allowed myself to neglect some other areas. I got away with not decluttering the paint and furniture refinishing supplies - and when and how will I ever refinish furniture pieces in my one-bedroom with no garage space, you ask? Yes, that’s exactly my point. Those things need to go. As do the nicer car floor mats and extra car supplies from when my teen daughter totaled not one, but three cars. We kept them for future cars or to sell. But now they’re in an upper cabinet of mine 🙄. Why? Because I hate throwing things away and I haven’t bothered to find them a new home.
While everything in my home has a home now, sometimes we have extra storage that allows to keep stuff we really don’t need. So perhaps, I should stop spending so much time reading Substack posts (not yours, of course! I’ll always read those) and get started in those last few decluttering projects!
We don’t have a basement in our current house and I secretly LOVE it! No hidden place for stuff to collect. Having to store our lesser used things in the garage definitely helps us keep it to a minimum. Nice job on the clean out!
I have two spaces that need major attention.
The upper level of my two-story garage has evolved from a party/movie watching room into a craft/sewing studio space. I think if it were a more welcoming and organized space, I would actually use the supplies there. That could be aspirational thinking however.
The other is a 5x10 storage room on the lower level of the garage, filled with my late mother-in-law's crystal, silver, and knick-knacks that my husband couldn't dispense with, due to his illness, prior to his death. No one wants vintage crystal stemware in rural Appalachia. This room is my top priority.
I definitely need to tackle our basement next! It’s been the catch all since we traveled all last year and had another baby. Thanks for sharing!
This is fantastic! We have a rental and while we dont have a basement, we have a storage unit on site- so the same concept. Our home has been decluttered and downsized dramatically. Last summer we did the same for our storage unit. We dont normally go in there, however now when we do, we know where everything is and there is additional space if it is needed.
Love this (especially the messy before pic! And the reality that this space doesn’t need to be styled, just functional). Would love more detail on the mementos storing process (maybe for another email?!). I know you’ve talked about this in various places but would love more details and pics. Are the mementos from your dad organized or just in one big bin? And for the girls project or schoolwork, is there a place you store inside for when things first come home and then eventually transfer to the basement??? And is it also all in just one big bin or organized within? Organized by year or all mixed together? (Clearly this is an area I find very challenging!) Thank you! Love all your work so much.
That is a lot of questtions!!! All excellent questions and I would love to know the answers as well. I need to sort out all of my daughters "art" from school.
I have a closet where I store art supplies that desperately needs my attention. It’s relatively organized, items are labeled, but its just too much stuff. Ugh! I just can’t seem to deal with it. I think I need to take your approach of dragging everything out, editing and keeping only what I truly think I’m going to use going forward. The rest I need to donate.
Nice job on the basement clean out. I have two closets that I wish to re-invest in and to rid of the crates and to have one of those modular drawers for the closet instead and to tweak what's in the crates into the drawers. I have one picked out from Bed Bath and Beyond, all I need is the money when there's extra funds.
Right now, it is our new vehicle that is causing a carbon imprint in our lives, needing repairs.
I can visualize the work in the closets as I have been tweaking it yearly now since we've moved here and perhaps when I get it down to size/functioning, we'll have to move or such, being that we're renters and not home owners.
Thank you Shira, this get's me to think about our space!
Thanks for your vulnerability in sharing this space of your home! For my family, our toughest area to organize is the carport. We don’t have a garage, so this is where all the outdoor and extra large items are stored. It definitely needs an edit, and I hope we can get to it this summer. (It will definitely be a multi-hour process.)
Need to clean out my fridge. Avoiding that forever. And old paperwork/bills.
I need to tackle my guest bedroom and my laundry/ storage room. We have guests coming in May, July and August and I have been putting it off, but now I have to get it done.
Thanks for sharing! This reminds me of the episode of 'Friends' and Monica's secret messy closet.
For me, this is our backyard shed. It's collected so many holiday decorations, random tools, gardening supplies, paint supplies. But we just avoid it bc it's a shed. I know we have a ton of duplicates and items that need to go, but this space has felt weirdly intimidating for me. Also... there are bugs. Thanks for the motivation to tackle it!